I'm slowly inching up on my half-birthday. But for a little longer, I'm at five months and counting on my 41 before 42 birthday list. It's been an exciting and busy year. Notes added and italicized where I've started or completed an item. Read on.
• 41 Before 42 •
- Choreograph a country line dance (and see if Barb will teach it at Cowboys)
- Plant and grow garlic — Gotta get on this over the next month.
- Watch every episode of MASH — G's watching with me, and we've finished the first season. Just picked up the second season from the library.
- Try aerial yoga and/or aerial silks — Done!
- Plan my next trip to France (perhaps running a retreat at Little French Retreat)
- Attend a Switchbacks match — Ugh. Missed out because I wasn't paying attention to the calendar. Next year!
- Try kayaking — Done. Not just once, not just twice, but three times. Floated the James River in Virginia with Twin River Outfitters just last week.
- Learn barista basics — Done! And I wrote a story about it too. Will post when it prints.
- Plant flower bulbs this fall — Gotta get on this along with the garlic.
- Take a birding and/or bird banding class — Pitched a story on this, so hoping for it to happen in early spring.
- Continue to reduce my wardrobe, a la Project 333 — Progressing.
- Take French language lessons
- Read at least 75 books — Catching up! 28 books done, re-read one, and in progress on seven.
- Take classes on how to use the manual functions on my DSLR camera — I'm actually looking at purchasing a new, much smaller and lighter camera to use on my travels, so this goal may shift some over the year.
- Have at least one item of clothing tailored to fit
- Learn to bake croissants
- Get will and living will in order
- Have a bouquet of flowers in the house, fresh once a month — Just bought a small mum plant for the kitchen. It's so cheery!
- Attend a fest in Telluride — I had this on the calendar and then we had some family issues that meant I had to cancel. Perhaps in the spring...
- Take performance driving lessons
- Add a piece of original art to my collection from an artist I have not yet met
- Stay up once all night until sunrise
- Perform at a poetry slam/open mic
- Learn to bake French macarons
- Attend the Santa Fe Opera — Going, again, on the not-gonna-happen list. Missed the summer season. Sigh. Next year.
- Be involved with a stage show in some way
- Bake a fruit pie, with homemade crust, from scratch
- Visit at least one new-to-me museum — Visited Taliesan West in Scottsdale. Absolutely beautiful. Also, visited the Museum of International Folk Art in Santa Fe. Visited the Portland Museum of Art in Maine; Ministers Island in New Brunswick; the Canadian Museum of Immigration at Pier 21 in Halifax, Nova Scotia; the Maritime Museum of the Atlantic in Halifax; and the Sherbrooke Village Museum in Nova Scotia. Also the Pinball Museum and the Taubman Museum of Art (photo above) in Roanoke, Virginia.
- Watch one new-to-me movie and one classic film a month — Saw Pitch Perfect 2! (Laughed and cried.) Tomorrowland, and Mr. Holmes. Also watched Frances Ha. A little behind on this.
- Play Settlers of Catan — Found friends who have the game and want to play.
- Stay at the Beaumont Hotel in Ouray
- Take an oracle card-making class — Took the awesome Inner Alchemy Fire Cards class, taught online by Mindy Tsonas.
- Research and read more about walking the Camino de Santiago — Just picked up a few books and the movie, The Way.
- Travel (again) with a girlfriend — Travelled to Santa Fe with two girlfriends. So much fun. Visited Brush Creek Ranch with another friend.
- Fly a kite
- Send postcards to friends once a month just because — Doing.
- Try fly fishing — Ah! Done! And loved.
- Visit Shambhala Mountain Center
- Do a Georgia O'Keeffe tour around New Mexico (Ghost Ranch, Abiquiu, etc.)
- Do a not-just-head-shot photo shoot (with Becky)
- Get off my ass already and pitch the nun story to Oprah Magazine
Other accomplishments not on this list: Tried archery for the first time. Played paintball. Rode a horse. Stayed at a dude ranch. Learned to stand-up paddle board. Indoor rock-climbing weekly. Hiked a chunk of the Appalachian Trail.
What's on your to-do-that-you've-never-done list this month?